Index-book



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(Model.)

I. ROSEWATER.

INDEX BOOK.

No. 356,334. Patented Jan. 18, 1887.

IN V'EJV' TOR $7M,-

Attorneys WITNESSES f O61 (Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2..

P. ROSEWATER. I INDEX BOOK.

No. 356,334. Patented Jan. 18, 1887.

N PEKEns, Phum-Limn m her, Wnhingkon, D. C.

WITNESSES o6 .of the covcrs-or there may be only one strip UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

FRANK ROSEVVATER, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

INDEX- BOOK.

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 356,334, dated January18, 1887.

Application tiled September 12, 189

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK ROSEWATER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Index-Books; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact-description of the invention, which will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view ofan openbook provided with my strip and tabs. Fig. 2 is also a perspective viewof a closed book provided with ailexible strip along the cover, andFigs. 3 and 4 are modifications.

The same letters refer to similar parts in all the figures.

This invention relates to index-books, and has for its object to providesuch a device as shall be simple, effective, and reliable.

\Vith these ends iuview the invention consists in thcimprovedconstruction and arrangement of parts,as will be hereinafter moreparticularly described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawingsA represents a book in which thedesired records are to be'kcpt, and which may be of any desired size.

B represents the strips, of which there may be twoone upon the innerside of each one on one side. These strips are provided with verticalcolumns of suitable characters, the first of which is preferably offigures from 0 to 100, to indicate the pages of the book. The secondcolumn has the characters that occur on the first hundred pages; thethird column the characters that occur on the second hutr dred pages,and so on for as many hundreds of pages as there are in the book.

The edges of the leaves are provided with tabs 0, which represent eachseparate page,or any number of pages, it so desired, as every fifth one,up to one hundred, when another set of tabs are used commencing at thetop and extending to the bottom, as is done with the first row. Thereare as many rows of tabs as 5. Serial No. 176,936; (Model) there arehundreds of pages in the book. Each row of tabs is made to indicate theparticular hundred which it represents or opens to when in use. This canbe done by having the first row plain, the second row stamped with onehorizontal line, and the third row with two horizontal lines, and so onfor each row of tabs; or the tabs can be of different colors,each colorrepresenting a different hundred of pages, or they may have numeralsstamped on the part that projects beyond the edges of the leaves.

The top of each page is provided with a character or characters whichindicate what it is desired toput on that page. These characterscorrespond with the characters upon the strips on the cover of the book.When it is desired to find a given page, the desired charactors aresought for. in the parallel columns on the strip, the number ofthecolumn noted, and the corresponding row of tabs opened at the particulartab which corresponds with the position the said character occupies inthe column, as the characters in the columns are arranged to correspondwith the tabs, consecutively, from the top of the page to the bottom.The first character in each of the columns corresponds with the firsttab of the diii'erent rows of tabs, the second characters with thesecond tabs of the rows of tabs, and so on to the botopen at'page 200,at the top of which appear the characters Mi to M0. The tab on theopposite page has two stripes across it, thus indicating that it is inthe second hundred of pages. The first character in the third column atthe left is Mi, thuscorresponding with the character on the open page.The corresponding figures in the page or figure column, which column isnot counted in do ciding the rows of tabs from the number of columns arethus indicating that the character is on either one of those pages ofthat particular hundred, while the first character in the correspondingcolumn at the right-hand side is Mo, and the figures in thefigure-col- Oumn are 5, thus indicating that whatever commences with that characterwill be found upon those pages of that particular hundred. The same willbe found true of all the other characters and pages.

To find the desired page the above process would be reversed-that is,the character first found in its appropriate column, and then the pagefrom that.

In the above-mentioned figure it will be no ticed that part of the lastrow of tabs are marked with columns and the other with figures, whichonly illustrates the modification spoken of above. It will be seen howeasily they could be of different colors.

Sometimes it is desirable to only use one of the strips, which can beplaced on the cover the same as where the two are used, and the othercover cut off even with the edges of the leaves. When this is done, thetop cover, or the one without the strip, can besupplied with a flexiblestrip, I), along its outer edge, the use of which is to enable the bookto be opened the more readily at the desired page, as the flexible stripwill readily yield sufflcieutlyto enable the leaves to beturned up, asshown in Fig. 2. It will be seen that this flexible strip can he usedwithout the tabs and index-strip, it'desired, or witheither of themseparate. I do not confine myself to any particular width for the strip,but make it of awidth corresponding with the size of the book.

In connection with the index-strip and tabs, I sometimes use a cut-inindexthat is, one in which the leaves are cut away along theiredges-showing the character which is on the leaf that is underneaththem, as is shown in Fig. 3; or the margin of each leaf may be providedwith a row of characters down its entire margin, the characterscorresponding with the characters on the index-strip at the edges of theleaves. I prefer to make these tabs very short, so that they are not soliable to be torn off the leaves in turning from one page to another, asthe fingers readily pass under the particular leaf, and the weight ofpages is borne by the pages themselves.

Another manner of using the index-strip is shown in Fig. 4, in which thestripis made of such a width that when it is folded, as shown in thefigure, it will be just wide enough for the outer margin, E, to foldover the top leaf and be secured in place by the top cover. This methodmakes a protector for the edges of the leaves and tabs out of the strip,and makes a more convenient book than the one shown in Fig. 2, in whichthe strip is secured to the projecting edge of the cover.

In special cases only one row of characters need be used with severalrows of tabs, as where several indexes are combined in one.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, my invention will be understood without furtherdescription. It will be seen that by its use the matter of indexing isrendered very effielent and reliable, and so simple as to be easilyunderstood.

I show in my present application an indeXed book having attached uponthe opening edges of the leaves tabs arranged in oblique series or rowslengthwise or up and down the book, which series or rows representgeneric subdivisions or groupings of pages, and having also upon theinside edge of the back of the book a series of subdivisions or markingsrepresenting the pagings between the rows of tabs, and placed oppositethe tabs which they represent. I would have it understood, however, thatI do not claim this subject-matter in this patent, as I have embodiedsuch a claim in a separate subsequent application, filed September 11,18S6, Serial No. 213,838.

I am aware that strips have been used inindexing in which the charactersreferred to the pages through numerals, but I do not claim suchconstruction, broadly; but

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1.In an indexbook, the combination, with the edges of the cover, of anindex-strip secured thereto, said strip being provided with a verticalcolumn of figures and two or more vertical columns of characters, andtwo or more rows of tabs secured to the edges of the leaves of saidbook, the column of figures in dicating all the pages of the book andeach row of characters indicating only the pages within itscorresponding row of tabs, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. In an index-book, the combination, with the edges of the cover, of anindex-strip secured thereto, said strip being provided with a verticalcolumn of figures and two or more vertical columns of characters, andtwo or more rows of tabs secured to the outer edges of said book, thecolumn of figures indicating all the pages of the book and each row ofcharacters indicating only the pages within its corresponding row oftabs, each row of said tabs being provided with a suitabledistinguishing character, and the tops of said leaves being providedwith characters corresponding with the characters on the saidindex-strips, substantially as and for the pun pose set forth.

3. In an indezebook, the combination, with the edge of one of the coversand an index; strip secured thereto, of a flexible strip secured to theouter edge of the other cover, saidsecond cover being narrower than theleaves of the book and the flexible strip extending to and being evenwith the outer edges of the leaves, as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereuntoaffixed mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK ROSEWATEB.

Witnesses:

JOHN Bostonr, FRANK STETKA.

l CIO

